painting

I spent this past Saturday at my Grandma Joyce’s house painting over what some would consider the most egregious abomination in home decor in human history. “Katie,” you say, “aren’t you being a bit dramatic?” Take a look at this.

That’s a dark teal and mustard stencil over a green and cream faux finish. My poor, sweet grandma has had to live with this IN HER BEDROOM for the last 11 years. We were at her house in March for her birthday and I’d had enough with the faux finishing that permeates her house. I asked her how she felt about her bedroom and she told me with no hesitation that she hated it. I told her for Mother’s Day, we would paint her bedroom.

The “artist” left no wall untouched by some form of this stencil. Why, Person, why? We went around and sanded the edges of the stencil so they wouldn’t be visible after we painted over them.

One more close up shot for good measure.

I drafted my sister Becca and one of my younger brothers, Spencer. Here he is stirring paint with his big, muscly arms. He is such a good boy. The wall with the window got a darker shade of paint for an accent wall – Grandma’s idea. 🙂

Look at that accent wall! What a difference even one wall made. Like humans with eyes live here.

I thought it would be cute to paint a little secret message for Grandma with the first coat on the rest of the walls.

My siblings did too. Here is Becca’s contribution.

And Spencer’s… He has been trained from birth to be a staunch Bears fan. He used the answer the phone with this little mantra beginning at just 3 years old.

Here it is after 2 coats on every wall and all the furniture back in place. My grandma was so thrilled and she called her sister just to tell her about it. She chose the colors from a deck and I think she did a great job. They really complement the gorgeous quilt she has on her bed. The pictures don’t do this room any justice.

The bedroom color pairs nicely with the bathroom paint (the only other space with paint that she likes). Through the bathroom is the laundry room with a faux finish all its own. Maybe someday soon we will tackle another space for Grandma Joyce. Until then, know that a little bit of ugly in the world was painted over.

Did you do any projects over the weekend? Have you ever seen anything as ugly as that faux finish/stencil combination?